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Drowzee Line/RBY
Drowzee can be found in all three games, but only on Route 11. It is, however, fairly easy to encounter when playing with duplicates clause on. "But Alakazam is SO much better!" One may cry, and rightfully so. However, Hypno is the often underestimated younger sibling of Alakazam, offering an only slightly lower offensive power, and a much greater physical bulk, at the expense of a much lower Speed. Yet in this generation, where almost nothing can hit hard and basically nothing can damage Hypno significantly - due to essentially having no weaknesses, on top of sporting good physical endurance and fantastic special endurance - the bulk of this line becomes proportionally even more amazing than it is on paper. Level-up Psychic means this Pokémon has everything it will ever need in battle, and that is starting from level 37, which is about halfway through the game; from that point onwards, there are very few battles that Hypno is unable to solo. Naturally, some attention and care will need be put into raising Drowzee until the evolution level, but once evolved, Hypno is nearly unstoppable. Important Matchups - Yellow = * Gym #2 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): Drowzee does well against Staryu, 3-4HKOing it with Confusion, but gets overpowered by Starmie's Psychic resistance as well as its BubbleBeam. * Rival (S.S. Anne): Drowzee's Confusion scores a 3HKO against Spearow and Sandshrew and a 2HKO against Rattata. It also 3-4HKOs Eevee. * Gym #3 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Hypno scores an average 4-5HKO against Raichu with Body Slam, against a Thunderbolt 3-4HKO; on paper, Hypno would lose, but if Body Slam paralyses Raichu on the first or second turn, there is a chance that the matchup will be overturned. Still, do not take unnecessary risks, and heal as needed during battle. * Rival (Pokémon Tower): Hypno's Confusion is a 3-4HKO against Fearow; Fearow's Leer may make Fury Attack a 2HKO after one usage, assuming a 5-hit turn, but Hypno can work around it by putting up Reflect. Confusion is also a net 2HKO against Sandshrew, 3HKO against Vulpix and Magnemite, and 2-3HKO against Shellder; the starter, Eevee, is 3-4HKOed, but harmless. * Giovanni (Rocket Hideout, Ground-type): Hypno's Confusion 2HKOs Onix and 2-3HKOs Rhyhorn. Hypno should also put up Reflect shortly before finishing off Rhyhorn; the incoming Pokémon, Persian, is about even with Hypno in terms of damage output, and Hypno gains a decisive advantage by having its Defense effectively doubled. Confusion is a 4HKO against it, meaning a well-timed Reflect will last just for long enough. * Gym #4 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Confusion beats even Weepinbell's Razor Leaf, 3HKOing it; Gloom is also 3HKOed. Tangela is a 4HKO, but Hypno only really needs to worry about Bind. * Gym #5 - Koga (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Psychic OHKOs the three Venonat and 2HKOs Venomoth. * Fighting Dojo (Saffron City, Fighting-type): Both Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan get destroyed by Psychic. * Rival (Silph Co.): Sandslash and Cloyster are 2-3HKOed by Psychic, Ninetales and Magneton are 3HKOed; Kadabra, instead, gets 2HKOed by Body Slam. Vaporeon is a slow 4-5HKO with Psychic, but riskless; Flareon is 3-4HKOed, but Hypno needs to break free of its likely Fire Spins along the way. Thunder Wave may help with this task. Lastly, Thunder Wave and/or Reflect are essential against Jolteon, which can at best 3HKO with a 5-hit Pin Missile; Hypno's Psychic is a 3-4HKO, so Reflect will suffice without any critical hits, but the addition of Thunder Wave makes the matchup safer. * Giovanni (Silph Co., Ground-type): Psychic OHKOs Nidorino and 2HKOs the rest of Giovanni's Pokémon. * Gym #6 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): Abra is a free KO since it lacks offensive moves altogether; Kadabra is 3HKOed by Body Slam, though Hypno should preferably switch out and back in for Alakazam, if Kadabra has lowered its Attack with Kinesis. Alakazam is 4HKOed by Body Slam without Reflect up; even if Reflect is up, Hypno's Psychic is stronger than Alakazam's Psybeam, so Thunder Wave is all that Hypno needs to defeat it if Reflect is used. * Gym #7 - Blaine (Cinnabar Island, Fire-type): Psychic 3HKOs Ninetales and 2-3HKOs Rapidash, though Ninetales is difficult to defeat without paralysing it, as its Confuse Ray and Flamethrower will give Hypno a hard time; leading with Thunder Wave is recommended. Psychic can also 3HKO Arcanine but is not guaranteed to; at any rate, Arcanine's Fire Blast has negligible chances to 3HKO, so Hypno is exceedingly unlikely to lose unless critical hits occur, and Thunder Wave can once again help it dodge hits. * Gym #8 - Giovanni (Viridian City, Ground-type): It is recommended to put up Reflect on the first turn that Hypno is on the battlefield; none of Giovanni's Pokémon are strong enough to one-shot Hypno, but the cumulative damage taken from them will eventually force Hypno to switch out or heal very often, unless their Earthquakes are nerfed. Dugtrio, Nidoqueen and Nidoking are all 2HKOed by Psychic; their moves are not strong enough to threaten Hypno, and there is an OHKO chance against the two Nido liners, as well. Fighting against Dugtrio, however, is extremely dangerous: it knows Fissure, which hits by Speed in this generation, and Hypno being slow makes it vulnerable to the move. Persian 3HKOs with Slash and Psychic is in the 2-3HKO range; Reflect will not help, since Slash ignores it, but Thunder Wave may make Persian miss out a turn or two, giving Hypno the advantage. Rhydon is 3HKOed, but its Earthquake has a chance to 2HKO; it can be beaten only if Reflect is up. * Rival (Route 22, pre-Elite Four): Psychic once again 2HKOs Sandslash and Cloyster, and 3HKOs Magneton and Ninetales. Exeggcute can be theoretically 4HKOed, but it is recommended to use a Pokémon with strong or super effective moves against it, instead; its Leech Seed and PoisonPowder are otherwise likely to chip away a significant portion of Hypno's health throughout the battle. Body Slam 3HKOs Kadabra which, however, knows Reflect; Hypno should Thunder Wave it first, to KO it as fast as possible, since Kadabra also has Recover. Vaporeon's Hydro Pump is a 3HKO against Hypno's 4-5HKO, but Hypno can still paralyse it and weaken it before switching out; same against Jolteon, but with Thunder instead, and Jolteon is 3-4HKOed by Psychic. Flareon is easier, as its Flamethrower is outdamaged by Psychic, though Hypno may still need to break out of Fire Spin a few times unless it also paralyses Flareon. * Elite Four Lorelei (Indigo Plateau, Ice-type): Psychic scores a 3HKO against Dewgong and Lapras, as well as a 2HKO against Cloyster. Jynx is 3HKOed by Body Slam, instead. Slowbro should be taken on by a better counter; while Hypno's bulk is great, Slowbro can quickly boost its Special with Amnesia and reaches 2HKO range with Surf at +6, whereas Hypno's Psychic (before Amnesia) and Body Slam can only 4-5HKO at best. * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Everything is murdered by Psychic. Only Machamp has a chance, and not a certainty, to survive one hit, but its Fissure is ineffective against Hypno and its other moves deal little to no damage. * Elite Four Agatha (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Hypno's Psychic 2HKOs both of the Gengar, 1-2HKOs Golbat and Haunter, and OHKOs Arbok. Hypno resists Dream Eater, as well as being immune to Ghost moves, so the only "threat" this team presents to it is... Confuse Ray. * Elite Four Lance (Indigo Plateau, Dragon-type): Gyarados is 3HKOed by Psychic and can only 3HKO with Hyper Beam, which is a two-turn move; same for Aerodactyl which, however, is 2-3HKOed by Psychic instead. Both of the Dragonair are 2HKOed, and relatively harmless. Dragonite is 3-4HKOed; its Hyper Beam KOs in three turns, and its special moves are hard-walled and deal relatively low damage, so Hypno will be safe. Since the strongest move on this team is Hyper Beam, it is strongly advised to put up Reflect against a Pokémon other than Gyarados (due to its 4HKO Hydro Pump), to reduce Hypno's damage intake. * Champion Rival (Indigo Plateau): Sandslash is yet again 2HKOed by Psychic, whereas Cloyster is 2-3HKOed, and Magneton and Ninetales are 3HKOed; Thunder Wave is recommended against the latter, which can pull confusion shenanigans with Confuse Ray and also trap Hypno with Fire Spin. Exeggutor takes several turns to KO, but cannot harm Hypno significantly with Stomp, and the damage can once again be reduced with Thunder Wave. Body Slam remains a 3-4HKO against Alakazam, though once again, Thunder Wave is needed to get past its Reflect and potentially prevent it from using the move; same goes for Alakazam's Recover. Vaporeon still 3HKOs with Hydro Pump and Hypno can only 4-5HKO it with Psychic, but Thunder Wave may help it deal some damage (or even KO, with a good amount of luck) before Hypno bails out. Jolteon and Flareon are 3-4HKOed, but both also need to be paralysed first, since Hypno would otherwise fall to Jolteon's Thunder or be trapped by Flareon's Fire Spin. * Post-Game: Hypno can actually stand up to Mewtwo with Thunder Wave and Body Slam. Mewtwo's Psychic deals greater damage, but if Mewtwo is paralysed for enough turns, Hypno will KO it. }} Moves Drowzee starts off with Pound and Hypnosis, as well as Disable if after level 12. It gets Confusion at level 17, which is a fairly dependable move for a good chunk of the early game, thanks to the line's raw special power; Headbutt, learned at level 24, complements Confusion nicely and serves Hypno well against fellow Psychic-types, especially in tandem with Thunder Wave, since Headbutt can cause flinching. After evolving, Hypno gets Poison Gas at 33, which has terrible accuracy and is worse than Hypnosis in every imaginable way ever, thus it should just be given up on. Psychic comes at 37, which is where Hypno really starts breaking the game: aside from the aforementioned fellow Psychics, Hypno will never need anything but Psychic to hit its foes. The last level-up move is Meditate, at 43, but Hypno does not really have many physical options, so that should also be ignored. Hypno can theoretically run a number of physical moves: Submission is its go-to coverage option, and Body Slam is the complement. However, aside from having much better Special than Attack, Hypno is wasted on that kind of moveset, and works much better with support moves such as Reflect and Thunder Wave (as an alternative to Hypnosis). Reflect is excellent, as it allows its already not bad physical bulk to turn into something incredibly massive. Toxic is viable, too, and miles better than Poison Gas. Players that are prone to trolling can always opt for the Double Team and Substitute combo, but Reflect and Hypno's Special stat alone are more than enough; it will never need to resort to cheap tricks to win. Recommended moveset: Thunder Wave, Reflect, Body Slam, Psychic Recommended Teammates * Fast hitters: Hypno's only "problem" is that it is slow. It may outspeed some enemies, but most of the time, it will move last. In the event a quick finishing off is needed, it is appropriate to have a glass cannon or other fast sweeper on the team. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Persian, Rapidash, Starmie, Electabuzz, Tauros, Jolteon Other team additions are optional. Hypno's Special is excellent, its physical bulk is not bad, and can be further improved with Reflect. There is little else that Hypno may fall short on. Other Drowzee's stats Hypno's stats * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Generally speaking, Hypno should be fully evolved anywhere between Lt. Surge and Erika in Red and Blue, or just before Lt. Surge in Yellow. Drowzee can't do a lot against physical hitters, though it is certainly good at handling special ones. * How good is the Drowzee line in a Nuzlocke? Nothing short of fantastic. It is the perfect choice for hipster players, as well as players who like using slow but durable Pokémon. Alakazam is the only Pokémon in the game that can outpace Hypno in sheer potential, and even then, choosing Hypno has its own advantages. * Weaknesses: Bug * Resistances: Fighting, Psychic * Immunities: Ghost * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon Category:Red/Blue/Yellow Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses